


2000 Miles

by situation_normal



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Banter, Christmas, Drunkenness, F/M, Falling In Love, Falling in bodies of water, Feelings, Fluff and Smut, Light Angst, Loneliness, Long-Distance Friendship, References to Fandom, Social Media, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Time Skips, Unsafe Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 18:01:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/situation_normal/pseuds/situation_normal
Summary: Christmas 2015. The new Star Force movie is out, and Rey can't even afford to go and see it. Cue one of her mutuals, KyloRen, to the rescue!Reyalitywe should have xmas together every yearReyalitythis is the best xmas everKyloRenRey, I think that’s the saddest thing you’ve ever said to me.KyloRenBut I agree. Let’s do it.Read: Rey and Ben become fandom friends. Wonder what's gonna happen...





	2000 Miles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oh_Snapcrackle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oh_Snapcrackle/gifts).



> Okay, so... I'll start by apologising to Oh_snapcrackle! This is the first fic exchange I've been a part of, and I didn't realise it would be so difficult for me to write something that wasn't poking me in the brain to be written.
> 
> I know you said you are not a huge social media fic fan, but I hope I can change your mind with this. Thank you for being so kind and telling me to write what I feel passionate about. That usually varies, but it happens that this last couple of weeks, this fic is what I am passionate about.
> 
> I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope we will be fandom friends!
> 
> Thank you to Alsterwasser for proofreading this for me. The title is from the Christmas song of the same name by The Pretenders.

 

_Was this a dream? It felt like a dream. She was kissing Ben. Well... being kissed by him. It was definitely Ben, because it was always Ben._

_She couldn’t see him. A weird dream. But his lips were softer than she usually imagined. The kiss was a bit messier—more urgent and... and for some reason it was a bit gross._

_She tried to lift her arm to wrap it round his neck—to pull him closer—but it wouldn’t work. It was definitely a dream. One of those dreams where you try to move but you can’t because you’re nearly awake, and then you wake up with one of your arms in the air._

_She didn’t want to wake up from this dream. It was too wonderful._

_But it was cold. And hurty. Did she fall out of bed?_

* * *

Christmas 2015

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _We may as well talk through DM at this point._ **  
> **
> 
>   **Reyality**
> 
> _i guess that post was getting crazy long_
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _So you’re not in the Christmas fandom then?_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _nah we don’t celebrate it_  

Rey looked around her shitty box room, down at her bare mattress on the floor, her laptop which was at least seven years old—a piece of crap that Unkar was going to chuck out. Rey had rescued it. Fixed it.

She’d hooked up to one of their neighbours’ Wi-Fi, and suddenly she was in a different world. An alternate reality where she could express herself; make friends with the same interests. Take a few hours to escape from her life.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _me neither._

And she wasn’t alone.

> **Reyality**
> 
> _have you seen the new movie yet?_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _Of course. It’s been out two weeks already, I’ve seen it 4 times._
> 
>   **Reyality**
> 
> _wuuuut im so jel. Im too skint. I havent even seen it once_

Rey _was_ jealous. The first new film in the _Star Force_ series for years. She had always been a fan, and the fandom had been pretty dead until recently. Now suddenly there was all this hype over the newest instalment, _The Wars Awaken_ , and she didn’t even feel like she could participate in her favourite fandom because she still hadn't seen it.

KyloRen was an account she’d been mutuals with for over a year. They’d never spoken like this before, but they frequently reblogged each other’s content.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _What’s your email?_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _huh_
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _Your email. It’s nothing weird, I swear. I have a pirate copy of the movie I can send you. Your gifs are the fucking bomb and I wanna see what you do with it._
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _youre not guna wreck my laptop with a virus are you_
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _I’m not gonna force it on you, dude. I just thought it would be a cool Xmas gift for my favourite mutual._
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _reydangerjohnson@domain.co.uk_

This was stupid. She was such an idiot.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _Sent_.

Her email pinged in the corner of the screen. A file attached. From one benjamincsolo@domain.com.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _Did you get it?_

She clicked the attachment, her pulse thumping in her ears. It would be a virus. It would definitely be a virus. 

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _I stg it’s not a virus._

Or porn. It was bound to be porn.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _And it’s not fucking porn. Just open it you coward._

She finally got the video screen up and scrunched her eyes closed before pressing play. If it was grunting or moaning she would just slam the screen closed.

The iconic opening theme music of _Star Force_ blared through the speakers on the base of her computer.

“No fucking way.”

She minimised the window and brought Tumblr back up.

>   **Reyality**
> 
> _YOU FUCKING LEGEND_
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _Make me a gif for Xmas :)_
> 
>   **Reyality**
> 
> _I’LL MAKE YOU 10 GIFS I FUCKINH LOVE YOU_

 He didn't reply. Rey watched the movie. She made him ten gifs.

Christmas 2016 

> **Reyality**
> 
> _im telling you_
> 
>   **Reyality**
> 
> _matt and kira man_
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _Not happening. Why would she ever go for him?_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _katt 2k17_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _I like it, but it won’t happen, there’s just no way._
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _mara 2k17_

 Rey grabbed another handful of salted popcorn—her official Christmas dinner—and smirked. They were rewatching together to celebrate Christmas. Ben was such a buzzkill.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _I mean, I can sort of see what you mean on this part._

Matt scooped Kira into his arms, carrying her bridal style back to his ship.

That was the first gif she’d made for him.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _That is just so fucking extra. Who the fuck does that? Just get your troops to drag her away like you did with the rebel pilot earlier._
> 
> _**Reyality** _
> 
> _we should have xmas together every year_  
> 
> _**Reyality** _
> 
> _this is the best xmas ever_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _Rey, I think that’s the saddest thing you’ve ever said to me._
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _But I agree. Let’s do it._

Christmas 2017 

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _A selfie?_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _yeah, you know. Point your phone at your face, smile, take a pic, send it to me. It’s really weird that I’ve never seen your face._
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _I guess that is weird. Okay don’t laugh at my ears._
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _I am not gonna laugh at you, dude. You’re like my best friend, I would never make fun of you._

It _was_ weird that they’d never seen each other’s faces. They spoke every day, usually about random crap. How their days were going, how little sleep they’d had, the new _Star Force_ film (mara definitely going to be canon.)

She knew it was weird, but Ben had never brought it up, and Rey had been relieved really. She didn’t know how old he was, and she only turned eighteen last month, she was worried that if he found out she was a minor, he would stop talking to her. She couldn’t bear the thought of it.

But now she was an adult. She had her own place, away from the foster system. She loved Ben with all her heart; he was her best friend, and she didn’t want to hide anything from him anymore. She wanted to see his face.

>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _Okay, I'm done. Please please don’t laugh, I actually am self conscious. And this is only for you, okay?_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _Just send the damn picture Ben_

Oh, shit. He looked older than her. Late twenties, maybe? Built, by the looks of his shoulders. Big brown eyes, a mess of thick black hair almost completely covering his ears. Pouty kissable lips curved up in a hesitant smile. What. The. Fuck.

> **Reyality**
> 
> _Oh shit my dude_
> 
>   **KyloRen**
> 
> _What?_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _You are a snack. Why didn’t you tell me this?_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _shut up. Now you send yours._

Rey snapped a quick selfie on her phone (she used the Tumblr app these days) and sent it. Grinning. Peace sign. She looked pretty cool.

Maybe Ben didn’t think so, though, because he didn’t reply. Rey had sent him half a dozen increasingly anxious messages by the time he finally replied half an hour later.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _You’re a girl_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _Yes, obviously. I didn’t realise this was news?_  
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _it was not obvious_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _is that bad?_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _give me a minute here, Rey. Because I am shook._

Another nail biting hour passed before he messaged again.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _How old are you_

Shit. Rey cringed back onto her bed, rolling herself up in her duvet with her phone clutched against her chest.

“Please don’t hate me Ben.”

> **Reyality**
> 
> _I’m 18._
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _shit_.

Rey felt her eyes prickle. Why had she suggested this?

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _you’ve been 18 what, a month?_

Why did she think it was a good idea to celebrate each other’s birthdays?

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _why didn’t you tell me you were a minor_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _why did it matter? We were just talking. You never said anything inappropriate. You live like half the world away from me anyway_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _I GIFTED YOU NSFW MARA ART LAST XMAS_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _oh grow up Ben, that art was so vanilla_
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _I saw more explicit drawings in sex ed aged 12_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _DO NOT TELL ME TO GROW UP YOUNG LADY I AM 28 YEARS OLD_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _We need to have a serious conversation about internet safety._
> 
> **Reyality**
> 
> _Yes daddy_
> 
> **KyloRen**
> 
> _DO NOT._

Okay, maybe she had been reading a little too much smut lately.

> **Reyality**
> 
> _Do you hate me?_

Silence. He knew how much it stressed her out when he left her on read. Was this seriously the end of her only friendship?

> **Reyality**
> 
> _please don’t leave me_

She looked up at the _Star Force_ themed Christmas card on her windowsill. The one Ben had sent. Her only Christmas card. Ben couldn’t leave her, he couldn’t. He was too many onlys.

Her only friend.

Her only Christmas card.

The only person she loved.

The only person who loved her.

> **KyloRen**
> 
> _Of course I don’t hate you. I love you._

The words weren’t out of the ordinary—they signed off with variations of “love you dude” at whatever random times of day or night they had to stop talking—but the relief that washed over Rey at the sight of them definitely was.

Relief and something else. Palpitations?

Without the casual endearment at the end, the phrase somehow held a lot more gravity. And now she knew what he looked like, she definitely had a painfully huge crush on him.

> **Reyality**
> 
> _I love you, too._
> 
> **KyloRen**  
> 
> _It's not half the world. It's only like 2000 miles._

Christmas Eve 2018 

Rey drained the last of her fourth bottle of lager.

> **Rey**
> 
> _Your gift didn’t arrive_

They didn't use Tumblr as their main form of messaging anymore; imessage was just more convenient at this point. She looked out of her bedroom window into the darkness of the evening while she waited for him to reply. He wasn’t replying instantly today.

> **Rey**
> 
> _The last post has already been_

She ambled through to the kitchen in search of another beer. Her fridge was empty. Shit.

> **Rey**
> 
> _Fuck you too then. I’m going out for a drink. You’d better be back online tomorrow. Let’s FaceTime. I’ll be hungover._
> 
> **Ben**
> 
> _It will get there, I swear. I told you it’s a surprise. Don’t go out, you’ll miss it. My phone is dying._
> 
> **Rey**
> 
> _If it’s nsfw art it’d better be kinky af_

_Don’t go out._ Well, she definitely _was_ going to go out. He might not understand how the Royal Mail worked, but Rey did, and she knew that once the last post had been delivered on Christmas Eve, that was it until the 27th.

There was no point in waiting in for it. If it was art, she could pick it up when she got back. Tonight, she just wanted to get trashed, and she didn’t have nearly enough Christmas booze.

She dropped him one last message before heading out the door.

> **Rey**
> 
> _I miss you._

Because she did. She missed him today especially. Christmas was _their_ time. They were always both off work, neither spending the time with family. She’d been looking forward to this few days of uninterrupted talking.

She missed him in ways that it should be impossible to miss him. They’d never touched, but she missed holding his hand; kissing him; she missed the way she knew he would make her moan; the way she’d be able to sleep dreamlessly in his arms.

Maybe he was spending Christmas with his estranged family. That was a good thing. Rey should be happy for him—objectively, she was.

But she needed to get drunk.

The pub was pretty busy when she got there. She wasn’t the only one who'd had the bright idea of Christmas Eve drunkening, apparently.

“I mean, it’s not like he even knows I’m in love with him,” she slurred. “Romantically, I mean.”

The drunken old woman next to her at the bar nodded sagely. “Internet though. I don’t geddit. You don’t even really know each other.”

Rey slammed her empty pint glass down on the bar. “We _do.”_ She raised her hand to get the attention of the overwrought bar staff. “One more for the road, gentle barkeep!”

“Maybe he just got himself a _real_ girlfriend,” the old woman mumbled.

The barmaid stopped in front of Rey and raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry, love, I’m not serving you any more. You’re too drunk.”

Rey prepared herself for an argument, but as the room began to spin around her, she thought better of it. She pulled on her coat with a huff and staggered towards the door.

“’Real girlfriend,’” she grumbled as she stomped through the dirty snow that had been sitting on the ground for the past week. She kicked a pile of it into the river. “Bah. I’m real.”

She could hear raucous singing of Christmas songs on the other side of the road, and fresh snow began to fall around her. So bloody Christmassy.

There were so many noises everywhere. The Christmas lights and the snow made everything blurry. She nearly missed her phone ringing in her pocket—the jaunty cantina music from _Star Force._

It was so bloody cold. Her hands wouldn’t stop shivering as she fumbled around in her pocket for the stupid thing. Who the heck was calling her at this time on Christmas Eve?

She wiped the flecks of snow off the screen and tried to focus on the name. _Ben_.

“Rey!”

Someone was shouting at her. She was so startled that she dropped her phone. Straight into the stinking water of the river beside her. Shit. Fuck. Ben was calling her and she'd lost her phone.

She didn’t even stop to think. It made perfect sense to hop over the railings and jump in after it. Except then she did think. And the water was freezing and disgusting and in her eyes and her mouth.

Everything went black.

Was this a dream? It felt like a dream. She was kissing Ben. Well... being kissed by him. It was definitely Ben, because it was always Ben.

She couldn’t see him. A weird dream. But his lips were softer than she usually imagined. The kiss was a bit messier—more urgent and... and for some reason it was a bit gross. 

She tried to lift her arm to wrap it round his neck—to pull him closer—but it wouldn’t work. It was definitely a dream. One of those dreams where you try to move but you can’t because you’re nearly awake, and then you wake up with one of your arms in the air.

She didn’t want to wake up from this dream. It was too wonderful.

But it was cold. And hurty. Did she fall out of bed?

Her lungs were burning. Then her throat was burning and suddenly there was a bad taste and water was pouring out of her mouth and nose. She coughed and spluttered as she tried to make sense of what was going on around her.

“Oh, thank God, Rey. Thank God.” That was a man’s voice. That was Ben’s voice. “You fucking drunk idiot.”

She realised that she was sitting up. His arms were around her, and she wasn’t sure which of them was shaking more violently. She heard a siren in the distance. Ben didn’t smell good; he smelled faintly of sewage.

“Ben?” She had to see his face. “What happened? How are you here? Did I die?” Somehow she'd always imagined heaven to be a bit more comfortable than this.

But he didn’t pull apart from her, he just squeezed her tighter. “You’re okay. You’re fine. I love you.”

Rey was dizzy. She was definitely hallucinating.

“She’s falling asleep, mate. Don’t let her fall asleep! The ambulance is nearly here!”

What a weird dream.

Rey woke up in a warm bed. A very warm hand around hers, clasping it a little more tightly than was comfortable.

“Yes, I'm her next of kin.”

Her head was pounding and her throat hurt.

“She should be good to go when she wakes up, she’ll need someone to stay with her overnight tonight. Her local surgery has been notified, but everything looks fine."

She peeled her eyes open. She was in a starkly lit hospital room, a curtain drawn around her bed. Ben was sitting next to her, talking to a nurse.

The nurse smiled at Rey when she saw she was awake. “Hello Rey, how are you feeling?”

Ben twisted round to face her so fast he probably pulled a muscle. “Rey!”

Rey winced as she pulled herself into a sitting position. “The lights are really bright,” she... croaked? Wow. Her throat was bad.

The nurse chuckled. "I have to get on to the next patient, it’s been a busy night for us. I’ll let Mr Solo catch you up on what’s happening. You’ll be discharged when the doctor next makes her rounds. Merry Christmas.”

Ben was staring at her. He looked tired. He looked beautiful. Real.

“What happened?” Rey managed, her voice a little more normal. “How are you...”

“I wanted to surprise you,” he said quietly. “I needed us to be together.”

“But I—”

“You jumped in the river.”

She remembered something about her phone. “I dropped my phone...”

“I saved you.”

Rey squeezed his hand back and he started, as if he’d forgotten he was holding hers.

It was awkward. Rey looked down at their joined hands to avoid the intensity of his gaze. His hair was damp but his clothes were dry. He smelled like men’s shower gel. The lights were so bright. They must be in a&e, because she could hear chatter from outside the doors.

She didn’t want to do this here. Talk to him; find out what his skin smelled like; any of it.

“I want to go home,” she sniffed. She was wearing an ugly hospital gown. She could smell herself. It was not a good smell. “I want you to take me home, where are my clothes?”

He reached under his chair and pulled out a plastic bag. The contents evidently her saturated clothes.

That was enough to tip her over into full blown crying. It was too much. She had a headache. She’d jumped into a fucking river. Ben was here and she stank. Why didn’t _he_ stink?

To her mortification, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, stroking her brittle hair soothingly.

“Don’t, Ben, I stink.”

He laughed. The bastard. “I don’t care.”

“Why don’t you smell like the bog of eternal stench? Did you save me with a fishing rod?”

“They let me take a shower. I have a whole suitcase full of clothes. You can borrow some.”

“Can I borrow your soap?”

“Of course you can, sweetheart.”

He was so gentle. She was completely thrown. Online, they spent half the time sassing each other. Endearments were words like “dude” and “man.” This unexpected use of “sweetheart” spoken so tenderly, threatened to undo her.

She wiped her eyes on his shirt, and pulled away. It didn’t feel weird to be this close to him. To be touching. She’d imagined it a thousand times, and she’d always thought it would be strange—the physical contact—but it just felt good. Natural.

He wiped the last of her tears away with the pad of his thumb, and smiled at her encouragingly. “Go shower, the doctor will be here soon.”

He passed her a couple of bottles and some folded clothes out of his case, and blushingly wrapped an enormous hoodie around her shoulders when she turned to slip through the curtains—apparently the back of the gown was a little more revealing than she’d anticipated.

The shower was refreshing. It cleared her head enough for reality to hit her properly. Ben was here. Oh balls. Ben was here in the UK. With her. _For_ her.

They were going to spend Christmas together. _Together_ , together. Her fridge was empty. What day was it? Was it still Christmas Eve? Oh crap, her flat was a complete disaster. Had she left her vibrator out? Shit, shit, shit.

Ben grinned at her when he saw her swamped in his ridiculously huge clothes. How was she supposed to know that he was a fucking giant? She tightened the pull cord on the waistband of his joggers and stuck her tongue out at him. He just laughed.

The doctor discharged her with a list of advice and a warning about jumping into bodies of water whilst under the influence of alcohol. Hopefully drunk Rey was listening.

“What time is it?” she asked as they made their way out of the hospital and into the dark streets. He had taken her hand again after she’d signed her discharge papers, and hadn’t let go.

He looked at his phone. “It's seven am on Christmas morning. We'll have to walk home.”

Her flat was only about a mile from the hospital. “That’s fine. I didn’t get you a present. I mean... I wrote you a fic, but I was gonna post it this morning, so you haven’t seen it yet.”

“Can’t wait to see it. I saw your text before you killed your phone; I did draw you super kinky art. Your eyes are gonna freaking bleed after you see it.”

“How did you find me?” she asked, pulling him along in the direction of her flat. “Last night, I could’ve been anywhere in the city.”

“I went to your apartment first, but it was obvious that you weren’t home. Nice area by the way—”

“Fuck you, my estate is fine. Only rich people have a problem with it.”

“—and so I just checked your Twitter. Your location services are on, and you made a tweet a few minutes before. Something like, ‘I am real bitches!’ I mean, it was confusing, but it was helpful, because it was easy enough to find Wetherspoon’s. I thought I saw you outside, so I called you to see if you’d check your phone. You obviously did, but you dropped your phone, and then you fucking jumped—”

“Okay, okay, I know the rest of the story. Thanks for the info,” she grumbled.

He let go of her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad I was there, although I sort of think I might’ve startled you into dropping your phone in the first place.”

A flash of confusing memory rushed through Rey’s mind. “Did you...” No way. It must've been a dream.

“Did I what?” he pressed, pausing in his stride and looking down at her.

Rey felt a blush creep across her cheeks. “Didyoukissme?” she mumbled.

“What?”

How she could write reams of the filthiest smut humanity had ever seen but not look him in the eyes while she asked him this was anyone’s guess. She cleared her scratchy throat. “Did you—um—did you kiss me?”

He looked stunned for a brief moment before cracking a toothy grin. “You remember that?”

She nodded mutely, still avoiding his eyes.

“No, Rey, I did not kiss you. I gave you CPR.”

“Oh.” Of course. Well, that was embarrassingly obvious.

“I wanted to, though. That’s why I asked you not to go out. I didn’t want our first kiss to be when you were blind drunk.”

“You make it sound like you came all the way over here just to kiss me.”

He shrugged. “Well, I had some other stuff in mind, too.”

She took his hand again, leading him towards her home. “So... you like me? Like, you fancy me?”

Ben laughed. Hard. “What the fuck, Rey? Are you messing with me right now?”

She elbowed him in the ribs. “No, I’m serious.” She could see her tower block coming up ahead now. Why didn’t she wait to have this conversation until they were home? Until she had a fucking coffee in her hands?

But Ben had stopped walking again. He pulled her back towards him by her hand. “You’re adorable, you know that?” His eyes travelled up and down her face, grin still plastered on his lips. “Rey, I’m so far gone for you. I’m in love with you. I thought you knew?”

“Since when?”

His face fell slightly and he pressed his lips together. “I dunno.” He shrugged. “I guess since I found out my dorky British best friend was secretly a beautiful woman. I swear to god I fell off my chair when you sent me that picture.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” she asked hesitantly, swinging their joined hands.

He took a step towards her and cupped her face with his free hand. “Yes. You are _so_ beautiful. God. I would kiss you right fucking now if I wasn’t hyper aware of the fact that you haven’t brushed your teeth since the river water incident.”

The intense invisible pressure between them burst, and Rey broke into what she was sure must be extremely unattractive snorts of laughter. “Let’s get back to my place. God, Ben, I never knew you were such a smooth talker.”

But he bent down and pressed his lips against her cheek, then her forehead, then the tip of her nose, before he allowed himself to be dragged onwards.

“You seemed really angry with me, though. When I sent you that picture a year ago. I thought you were annoyed.”

He sighed as he followed her up the concrete steps of her building. “I was a little upset at the time. My first reaction to your photo was... physical... and involuntary. I wanted to fly right over here and... I dunno, I guess I just wanted to be with you. Love you properly. Then I noticed that you looked young, and we’d been talking for years... I felt like a creep.”

“But we’d never... you’d never... we were just friends.”

“I know, but then I saw you, and you were hot, and I wondered if I’d been grooming you? I dunno.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I know, but it took me a long time to get over. Longer than I let on. A couple of months ago, I just told myself I was being crazy. And I knew I was. I booked my flight here right before your birthday.”

“When do you fly back?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t booked a return flight. I didn’t know how long you’d want me to stay.”

She opened her front door and cringed at the mess. “Don’t judge me. I wasn’t expecting company.”

Ben looked so damn big in her tiny home. “This is...”

Rey grimaced. “You look like you’re in a dolls house.”

“No! It's nice! It’s... cosy,” he finished lamely.

Rey threw her keys down on the kitchen counter. “I’m going to brush my teeth and change out of these clothes. Make yourself at home, there’s an iPhone charger next to my bed.”

She left him in the kitchen and slipped into the bathroom to wash. Her mouth tasted like an old sock and she thanked every deity to ever bless the heavens that Ben hadn’t kissed her.

He was in love with her.

In love. With. Her.

She watched her reflection in a daze as she brushed her teeth. What the hell.

This was all just too freaking romcom to be real.

Oh God. She hadn’t said it back. Rey spat her toothpaste into the sink and hurriedly swilled some mouthwash. She hadn't said it back. Oh God, oh God. He must be hurt.

She ran through to the kitchen. He wasn’t there. Frick. Oh! He was charging his phone in her bedroom, of course.

“Ben! I love you, too! I’m in love with you! I’ve cleaned my teeth!” She dashed through to the bedroom where he was sitting on the edge of her bed. “You can kiss me n—”

Then she noticed his face, which was an uncharacteristic shade of red.

And her pillow, which he was holding over his crotch.

“Ben, wha—”

And her sizeable magenta dildo, lying exactly where she'd left it, on her bedside table.

Next to his charging phone.

“Wow.” She sidled over to her bedside table and opened the drawer, shoving the toy in quickly and slamming it shut. “So... you couldn’t have just backed away and waited for me in the kitchen then?”

Ben made in incomprehensible sound and dropped his head into his hands. “No. I literally could not do that. I’m sorry.”

Okay. This was kind of embarrassing. But also beyond hilarious to see Ben so flustered. Rey cleared her throat and drummed her nails on the drawer. “No, _I’m_ sorry. I didn’t have time to hide my boyfriend before you were already in the house.”

Ben peered at her from between his fingers and she grinned at him.

He dropped his hands and looked up at her with a shy smile on his face. “Were you talking to me, or the dildo?”

Rey leaned forwards to shove him playfully, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his lap, the pillow dropping to the floor beside them.

“Did you say I can kiss you now?” he said, shy smile still lingering on his lips.

He was hard. It was easy to feel through his jeans and the loose joggers Rey was still wearing. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and his eyes flitted down to her mouth.

In the end Rey kissed him first. A hesitant brush of her lips against his. She wasn’t exactly a blushing virgin, and Ben seemed a little unsure of himself.

Their brief kiss seemed to flip a switch in his brain. He rolled her off of his lap and onto the bed, kissing her urgently; trailing sloppy kisses down her throat. He yanked at the bottom of the baggy tee shirt she was wearing, and Rey pulled it off obligingly, desperate to feel his lips on every inch of skin.

“Rey—” he groaned as he bent his head down to pay attention to her breasts. “—holy fucking shit, Rey. I can’t believe you’re real.”

Rey pushed him back from where he was mouthing at her nipples and he looked up at her with glassy eyes, catching her meaning a moment later and ridding himself of his own shirt.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Holy shitballs batman,” Rey breathed as she traced a hand over his too-fucking-massive-to-be-real pecs. “How are you so ripped?”

A look of confusion passed over his face for a second before he looked down at his own body and back up at her. “Uh—I work out a lot. I have a room full of stuff in my home for it.”

Wow.

Then she gasped as he went back to work, moving his way down her body with his lips and teeth and tongue until he was at the waistband of his own trousers on her hips and she was a shaking mess of anticipation.

He looked up at her face, his fingers pulling lightly at the elastic. “Can I?”

“God, Ben, yes. _Please_ ,” she said breathily.

He pulled off the trousers and huffed a short laugh at the sight of his boxers underneath. “Shit, that’s hot.” He rubbed his thumb over her covered pussy, watching her squirm with an awed little smile on his face; looking at her with such undisguised affection and love—like he couldn’t believe this was happening.

Rey knew that look; she knew because she must be looking at him the same way.

She lifted her hips off the mattress and he slipped the boxers down her thighs, going on to dip his fingers between her folds and groaning at the feel of her wetness on his hand.

She shuddered as he fingered her clit slowly, steadily building up the heat in her belly. Her whole body felt like it was vibrating when he finally slipped two thick fingers inside her and replaced his fingers on her clit with his perfect mouth.

Oh god he was good at this. Fuck. Shit. Fuck. How.

The tingling in her core burst like a dam and she moaned quietly, clamping his head between her trembling thighs.

Ben propped himself up on his elbows and grinned at her. Clearly pleased with himself. Rey was too wrecked to manage much more than a thumbs up of appreciation.

He laughed and crawled up the bed, caging her in with one hand either side of her shoulders. “I love you.” He kissed her lips. “I love you.” He nuzzled her cheek. “I love you.”

She reached down between them and fumbled with his belt buckle, growling in frustration when it wouldn’t come apart with her endorphin-addled efforts.

Ben took pity on her—or maybe himself—and unbuckled the belt and jeans with a practiced motion, shucking them off and kicking them across the room.

His cock looked painful, it was an angry red and leaking precome from the tip. Ben palmed it a couple of times, presumably to relieve some of the ache, and knelt between her thighs.

Rey wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in towards her. She gasped when she felt him rub himself up and down her slit. He choked a shuddering breath and dropped his forehead down to connect softly with hers. He held her eyes as he pressed inside her.

“I love you, too,” she finally whispered back.

He fucked her slowly. Not carefully, but like he wanted to savour every moment they were connected like this. He fucked her like he loved her, and she believed him. She never wanted him to leave.

“I never want you to leave,” she murmured.

His thrusts became erratic, his breathing turning ragged as he edged towards his release. Rey was close again, too. He moved a hand between them, rubbing her swollen clit until she pulsed around his cock with another orgasm.

Fucking hell.

He rutted into her a couple more times and stilled, spilling inside her with a grunted curse.

They lay side by side in a dazed silence until they regained their ability to breathe normally. And think normally.

“Happy Christmas,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms and kissing her hair. “You really want me to stay? ‘Cause I will.”

Rey kissed his Adam's apple, taking a moment to suck what she was certain would be an embarrassingly visible hickey on his neck. “I really want you to stay.”

“Can I read the fic you wrote for me now?”

“Uhuh. Can I see your filthy art now?”

“Of course. Keep it off Tumblr, though. It contains FPN.”

“Female Presenting Nipples?”

He sighed and nodded.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this right after midnight, just as Christmas eve is chiming in, because I thought I wouldn't have time to post it tomorrow!
> 
> The whole falling in the river thing came from a hilarious conversation I remember having on The Writing Den discord when I was in there. Something about Rey falling into the River Clyde and Ben rescuing her. If you remember this, guys, here it is!!
> 
> So it's not mentioned in the fic cause it's almost irrelevant, but I decided that Rey lives in Glasgow and Ben lives in Nova Scotia in this universe. 
> 
> Happy Christmas everyone!
> 
> The moral of this story is that [Tumblr](https://situation-normal.tumblr.com/) sucks but somehow I still love it


End file.
